Nvest Financial LLC Reduces Stock Position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Nvest Financial LLC decreased its stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,726 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 39 shares during the period. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. 89.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TMO opened at $584.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $536.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $570.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 52 week low of $493.30 and a 52 week high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.12, for a total transaction of $5,581,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,757,296.96. The trade was a 22.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,850 shares of company stock valued at $19,123,197. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $680.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $767.00 to $718.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $630.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bernstein Bank raised their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $565.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.95.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.